[This post is from Thordin’s point of view.]
Leaning into the corner of their bed, buffered by pillows, Thordin tilted his head back, listening to the rain. Sif leaned against his chest, her head against his shoulder, his arms around her and her hands loosely grasping his. It was warm and quiet, as it should be as they rested there, still cocooned in their blankets.
He knew it was getting late, that they both should have long ago gotten out of bed, but there was something about the sound of the rain that made both of them want to linger where they were—or at least made him want to linger where they were. He listened to the rain, to the coming storm. Sif shifted slightly in his arms, looking up at him.
“What is it?” she asked in a whisper.
Thordin shook his head. “Storm’s coming.”
“Natural?” she asked, nuzzling his collarbone. He smiled faintly, reaching up to thread his fingers through her hair.
“So far as I’ve been able to tell. Sounds natural.”
“You haven’t tried to sense it?”
“No more than passively,” he said quietly. “Not hearing anything that makes me think this is any more than the usual summer rain.”
“Summer,” she echoed, then shook her head slightly. “Is it still?”
“For another few weeks,” he said quietly. “Not too much longer.”
“Winter will come early again,” she said, running her fingers along his arm. “Leinth and I were talking. She can feel it in her bones, she said.”
“When did you talk to her?”
“I brought her dinner last night,” Sif said. “She’s still loathe to leave him.”
“He’s recovering, isn’t he?”
She nodded. “Of course he is. The entire world here would be up in arms if he wasn’t, it’s just slow—slower, I think, than he and anyone else would like. Though I think Leinth doesn’t mind keeping him in bed a little longer.”
Thordin smiled. “There are some advantages to that, aren’t there?”
Sif smirked at him. “What are you playing at?”
“I think you can guess.”
She gave him an impish smile and kissed him lightly. “Behave, my love,” she murmured against his lips as she settled against him again. “And make sure that storm’s a natural one before we get too ahead of ourselves.”
